Gru’s lovable yellow Minions have already wreaked Mayhem at Universal Studios Florida, and now we know when their popular Despicable Me simulator ride will arrive at Hollywood. According to the webpage for a contest sponsored by the retailer rue 21, at Universal Studios Hollywood Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem will debut in April 2014. The new attraction, […]

The new attraction, which replaced USH’s Terminator 2/3D attraction, is largely identical to the Orlando version, but features a much more elaborate facade depicting Gru’s home and neighborhood. Adjacent to the ride (replacing the Coke Soak area) will be Super Silly Fun Land, an amusement park-inspired playground with a “spinner” kiddie ride.

The addition of Despicable Me is the first of many changes coming to Universal Studios Hollywood, including the recent demolition of the revolving tunnel on the Studio Tour, the rumored addition of an expanded Simpsons area similar to the new Springfield USA in Orlando, and the eventual opening of a west coast Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Read the Unofficial Guide to Disneyland for complete info on USH, and keep an eye on this blog for future updates on the evolution of Universal.

This week’s SATURDAY SIX looks at the Top Six Gift Shops at Universal Studios Florida. Until recently, gift shops were seen as a necessary evil at our favorite theme parks – annoyances that many people either dreaded being herded through or mocked the existence of outright. One of the best gags in The Simpsons Ride involves the alien Kodos saying, […]

This week’s SATURDAY SIX looks at the Top Six Gift Shops at Universal Studios Florida. Until recently, gift shops were seen as a necessary evil at our favorite theme parks – annoyances that many people either dreaded being herded through or mocked the existence of outright. One of the best gags in The Simpsons Ride involves the alien Kodos saying, “Foolish Earthlings, don’t you know all rides must end near the gift shop?”

Thankfully, over the past several years gift shops at Universal have become better themed and well merchandised, and several have even started to incorporate interactive features for their guests. It’s almost unbelievable to say it, but just as Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey became possibly the first attraction in the history of theme parks to have a queue guests wanted to spend more time in, gift stores themselves are becoming features of attractions that guests can look forward to experiencing. Here now, a look at 6 of the best gift shops at Universal Studios Florida.

“Thank you, come again!”

# 6 -Kwik-E-Mart

Despite the great joke mentioned above, the Simpsons Ride is one of the few attractions at USF that doesn’t exit into a gift shop. The Kwik-E-Mart, the ride’s merchandise location, is right next to the attraction and is filled with the high level of self-deprecating humor that is found throughout Springfield USA. Signs above the merchandise include sales pitches like, “Today’s merchandise at tomorrow’s prices!,” “These items won’t buy themselves!,” and “C’mon! If you owned a store we’d buy your junk!” There’s even a sign at the registers that has a call back to an episode of the Simpsons television show as it warns the cashiers not to take checks from various people including Chief Wiggum, Homer J Simpson, and Homer J Fong.

The walls and outside windows of the Kwik-E-Mart are laden with ads for fake products including Farmer Billy’s Choco-Bacon-Bars (“It’s like chocolate and bacon had a baby in your mouth!”) while the variety of actual Simpsons related products inside includes t-shirts, hats, plush, comic books and more.

Outside the store there is a photo-op available with Milhouse sitting on a bench and one of USF’s most hidden gems, the Simpsons pay phone. On the side of the Kwik-E-Mart closest to the Simpsons ride, there is pay phone mounted on a wall with the character Nelson next to it with a word balloon saying, “Answer the phone dingus…it’s for you.” Walking by this phone will trigger it to ring, and picking up the receiver will treat you to a gag line by one of the various Simpsons characters including Chief Wiggum, Moe Szyslak, and Bart Simpson.

With a pressed penny machine, the Big Pink donut, and lithographs of the hilarious attraction posters such as Captain Dinosaur’s Pirate Rip-Off (a jab at Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean ride), the Kwik-E-Mart is a must-do for any Simpsons fan.

It’s doubtful James Cameron would approve of a sonic screwdriver in the T2:3-D gift shop…

# 5 – Terminator 2: 3-D Gift Shop

The T2:3-D gift shop is teeming with an incredible amount of “geek” merchandise. Actual Terminator-themed items make up about 10% of what is sold in the store, and almost every other popular Sci-Fi or cult hit is represented throughout. Franchises including Dr. Who, Battlestar Galactica, and even Star Wars have products ranging from action figures to hoodies.

the T2:3-D store also fills the role of the Marvel comic store located in Island of Adventure’s Marvel Superhero Islandwith its wide variety of DC comic books to purchase, including Walking Dead graphic novels.

There are some very impressive Terminator props in the store as well, including a life-size T-800. If you’re the type of person who looks forward to the upcoming Daredevil series on Netflix, watched the Day of the Doctor simulcast, or knows who Hershel Greene is, you’re going to enjoy shopping in the T2:3-D gift shop.

# 4 – Super Silly Stuff

Super Silly Stuff is the gift store you exit into after riding Despicable Me Minion Mayhem. Everything Universal did for the Despicable Me attraction was perfect: the outside recreation of Gru’s house, the wonderful propaganda-style posters along the show building, and so many other details. The multiple pre-shows and the ride itself are fantastic and the Super Silly Stuff is a store loaded with great Despicable Me products to purchase.

I don’t want to spoil the attraction for anyone who hasn’t had an opportunity to ride it yet, but there is something that is key to the end of the ride that you can actually buy in the store, which I think is a great touch. There are the plushes available for all the main characters of the film, including Gru’s dog Kyle. You won’t be able to go one foot without running into a Minion-related product, whether it be t-shirts, plush, notebooks or bottles.

Despicable Me themed cookies

Just as the store has an item relating directly to the attraction, there are several products which will have great appeal to die-hard fans of the Despicable Me film. My favorite is the recreation of the Girl Scout cookies that Gru’s daughters sell to the villain Vector. That’s right, you can buy Choco Swirlies and Slam Jams, two types of cookies that only exist in the Despicable Me universe. Whether it’s getting a Butterbeer at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter or a Duff Beer and Krusty Burger at Moe’s Tavern, Universal is delivering items straight out of our favorite movies and television shows.

For years it seemed theme park fans had to watch as merchandise became more and more generic but clearly Universal is going the other direction and almost over-delivering to its fan base with some really sharp and well thought out products.

# 3 – The Supply Vault

The Supply Vault is located at the end of Transformers: The Ride-3D. The atmosphere of this store is huge highlight for me. The cashiers are all N.E.S.T. soldiers, you have the entire military complex theme throughout, and you can hear the amazing Transformers music playing outside the building. As a fan of the Transformers growing up, the merchandise inside floored me. My favorite item is the exclusive Transformer figure Evac that you can only buy through Universal. Another must have item is the insane chocolate Allspark, a solid piece of chocolate that is very reminiscent of the Borg ship from Star Trek.

Transformers: Generation One shirt

One of the highlights of the Supply Vault for me is the mix of merchandise for both the new Michael Bay versions of the Transformers and the old 1980’s Generation One versions. While the new “realistic” version of Transformers is impressive to behold (and they help make the attraction itself amazing) there is something to be said for the old 2D animated Optimus Prime, Bumblebee and Megatron that we all fell in love with in the first place. T-shirts, hats, and toys are available. As a fan of pressed pennies, I was also very happy when a new penny machine arrived with some of the most intricate designs available in either park.

# 2 – E.T. Toy Closet

After riding the E.T. Adventure attraction, guests leave the show building and walk outside only to be steered right back in the Toy Closet gift shop (there are several large planters blocking your merchandise-free exit). At the Toy Closet you’ll find a whole bunch of E.T. shirts that range from classic movie tees to more contemporary apparel. One of my favorites is a tee that labels E.T. as “the original shuffler.”

Fans of Back to the Future: The Ride will find scale replicas of the DeLorean here (who knows why, but the more BTTF merchandise – or any old attraction merchandise for that matter – we can get in the park, the better.)

One of the photo ops available at the Toy Closet

But what really makes this gift store special are the two photo ops inside. Many guests used to zooming through gift shops without glancing at a single item might not even realize they are there. I’ve written about these photos in a previous Saturday Six looking at the top six Photo Connect experience at Universal. I believe they are two of the most well done photo ops in the part and all but justify buying the Photo Connect star package itself (let alone all the other pictures you get with it.)

One of the pictures simulates the experience of the E.T. attraction itself as you are get a chance to “ride a bike” with E.T. For anyone who has seen Spielberg’s film, Elliot riding on the bike with E.T. is going to evoke a good memory. The other photo takes another iconic moment of the film, E.T. being dressed up, and allows several guests to be able to take their picture with E.T. in the toy closet itself.

I don’t know what it is about the E.T. Adventure, but it is an experience I really enjoy. I’m not the biggest fan of the original movie and the wait to get an “interplanetary passport” at the beginning of the attraction drives me crazy, but once I walk into that indoor forest queue, I’m hooked. I love the queue, I love the ride, and I love this gift shop.

# 1 – SpongeBob Storepants

Now THIS is a a gift shop. SpongeBob Storepants opened in May of 2012 and contains everything you could want in a gift store, despite the fact that SpongeBob himself has no attraction in the park (Squarepants and his pals are a part of the Superstar Parade.) As with the long-running SpongeBob cartoon series, the store caters to children but there is much for adults to enjoy as well. Similar to the Simpsons, the Spongebob brand has a very smart wit about it and can work on several levels. One of my favorite jokes in the store is a simple board that has the phrase “Who says you can’t buy happiness?” painted on it. Upon closer inspection, the board sells for $7,450.

The outside of the store sets the show with a facade that looks straight out of the cartoon. The exterior has what looks like large pieces of metal welded together and supported upon bamboo poles that sit in barrels or crates. A running theme throughout this store is Mr. Krabs and The Krusty Krab, so you’ll see posters showing Spongebob himself making some crabby patties or signs mocking Mr. Krabs’ crass commercialism.

At the front of the store is a dedicated meet n’ greet area where you can have you picture taken with characters such as SpongeBob, Patrick and Squidward. Once you pass that, the theming inside is bananas and almost transports you to Bikini Bottom itself. Like the Kwik-E-Mart there are tons of sight gags and jokes all around the building as well as representations of many of the houses you’ll see in the show. The largest of these houses is SpongeBob’s pineapple which you can actually enter and get your picture taken with Gary the snail.

There is so much to see and take in at SpongeBob Storepants its easy to forget it’s actually purpose: to sell you stuff. Tons of great SpongeBob merchandise here including a wonderful Build-A-SpongeBob toy. I recently wrote that guests should at least walk through Confisco Grille to see the incredible theming and SpongeBob Storepants is something similar. It’s worth a walk through this store even if you have no kids or have zero inclination to buy any merchandise. It’s an experience. If more gift shops were like this we’d be waiting for the rides to finish so we could hurry up and shop.

So there you have it: the top six gift shops at Universal Studios Florida. See you next weekend for the latest edition of the Saturday Six. If you had fun, be sure to check out The Magic, The Memories, and Merch! articles or, for your listening pleasure, check out Pardon the Pixie Dust podcast.

I have been fascinated by character meals for a long time now, probably because my parents would never take me to one when I was growing up. I’ve read all of Brian McNichols‘ articles on character dining at WDW and love listening to various podcasts talking about the different dining experiences Disney has to offer. One […]

I have been fascinated by character meals for a long time now, probably because my parents would never take me to one when I was growing up. I’ve read all of BrianMcNichols‘ articlesoncharacterdiningatWDW and love listening to various podcasts talking about the different dining experiences Disney has to offer. One thing no one ever seems to talk about is character dining at Universal. Well, today that is going to change.

Every Sunday, from 8AM – Noon, Jake’s American Bar at the Royal Pacific Resort has a character breakfast. About a month ago, I made a reservation for our party through Open Table for 10AM. Upon checking in, while we were waiting for our table, a couple of Pink Berets from the movie Hop were at the front of the restaurant. The children we were with made a bee line for these characters despite never having seen Hop.

The sheer awe that these kids showed in their faces and reactions made me realize immediately that my parents blew it. Big time.

Selections from the continental breakfast offerings

We then made our way to the table and were told how the character dining works in terms of food. There is a large continental breakfast set-up in which every guest can have as much food from as they want. In addition, each guest can order one plated food dish. The options for the plates were:

The entrees for children were French toast or scrambled eggs. The server had freshly squeezed orange juice, which was very good. There was also freshly squeezed grapefruit juice as well as apple juice available. If you are a coffee drinker, Starbucks coffee is served.

We went for the Tahitian French Toast and Farm Fresh Three Egg Omelet. After having the corn bread at the House of Blues with the maple butter, I was looking forward to brown sugar cinnamon butter on this French Toast. While we were waiting for our meals, we headed over to continental breakfast area,

A true breakfast of champions. Also pictured, a plate of fruit.

This spread was top notch and reminded me of the breakfast buffet offered by Royal Caribbean on my recent cruise on the Freedom of the Seas in terms of quality of the actual food. Lots of options for fresh fruit (which I consider the Fool’s Gold of a buffet), muffins, bagels, oatmeal, cold cereal, croissants, Danish, scones, yogurt and – my personal favorite – donuts. The variety of donuts being offered changed just during the time I was there. I found that be award-worthy.

While sitting down, a character change took place and the Pink Beret bunnies from Hop left and Gru and a Minion from Despicable Me arrived. Decent attention to detail here as the Pink Berets (who are like the secret service to the Easter Bunny in Hop) mock fought with Gru during the exchange.

It should come as no surprise that Gru and the Minion were the hit of the entire restaurant. Despicable Me 2 is inching towards a billion dollars at the box office and Despicable Me Minion Mayhem attraction at Universal Studios Florida is arguably the most popular ride in the park. Every kid in the room lit up when the Despicable Me characters entered the dining area, almost unable to contain their excitement.

A minion from Despicable Me

While the Pink Beret bunnies seemed to stick together everywhere they went, the Minion and Gru generally were one table apart interacting with guests, although would definitely get together for pictures if people wanted them.

The Minion character was very playful and seemed to spend a lot of time with every kid in the restaurant. The Gru character was actually huge in person. I wasn’t expecting that. I’ve seen the character a lot in USF, but it’s usually from a distance watching the parade or a dance party.

Gru from Despicable Me

One of the children we were with is a huge fan of Gru’s daughters in the movie and brought her three dolls with her to the restaurant. So she was able to introduce Gru to her dolls and have a whole conversation about that. One thing that never ceases to amaze me with almost all of Universal’s meet n’ greet characters (and Disney as well) is the amount of personality these characters can show with limited movement and not being able to talk. I think the Gru character, with a face that couldn’t move, was better at getting across emotions than most live humans you meet in the parks. It’s hard to describe in words, but these characters can connect with guests (especially kids) in a way that should be almost impossible given their limitations, but they succeed.

After spending a lot of time with the characters, our plated meals arrived.

Farm Fresh 3 Egg Omelet

Tahitian French Toast

Kid’s French Toast

A minion peeks in…

This was hands down the best French toast I have ever had in my life and someone needs to bring brown sugar cinnamon butter to the marketplace. The serving size of both the French toast and the 3 Egg Omelet plates were rather large. I was a little terrified when the menu description read “Yukon gold potato hash,” thinking it was going to be one of those inedible scrambled mess of potatoes that restaurants like Denny’s serve, but these were very well seasoned potatoes. We actually ordered an extra side of them they were so good. The hash browns were very similar to the type you will see at places like McDonalds and other restaurants. Perfectly acceptable. Raves across the board when it came to the food

Make-A-Pancake machine, Every home needs one of these miracles of modern invention in their kitchen.

While we were eating there seemed to be a minion dance party at the front the restaurant, with several kids dancing with the Minion. The little girl with us was more than happy to join in. Afterwards we stopped back by the continental breakfast area and had her try out the “Make-A-Pancake” machine.

Maybe I’ve been living under a rock, but this contraption blew my mind. First a child presses a button on the machine, and then a couple of minutes later two pancakes coming rolling off a conveyer belt onto a plate. If one of these machines existed when I was growing up I think I would have made 1,000 pancakes. The kitchen of the future….today!

Now this is definitely for kids, as the pancakes themselves are really small (think of them as silver dollar pancakes after adjusting for inflation), but besides the fascinating way they are made there is a toppings bar for kids to decorate their pancakes. This included a big bowl of maple syrup, and little bowls of sprinkles, white chocolate morsels and regular chocolate morsels. You would have thought the child was auditioning for Sweet Genius with the level of detail she was putting into her pancakes. I was very impressed at her creation, as just looking at the amount of sugar put onto these tiny pancakes could send you into a diabetic coma.

“What, no whipped cream?”

After spending some more time with the Pink Beret characters, it was time to end our first ever character dining experience (but not before grabbing a couple more donuts to go). The biggest surprise for me was the overall quality of food offered. I have heard horror stories of some of the character meals at Disney in terms of quality of food for the price you pay. The price for the character breakfast at the Royal Pacific is $26.99 for adults, $14.99 for children, and kids under 3 are complimentary. I’ve now had a lunch and late night dinner at Jake’s along with an outdoor lunch at the Bula Bar sitting poolside and the food at each meal has ranged from good to great.

Unlike Disney, Universal offers a limited amount of character dining experiences. Inside the parks there is a character breakfast at Cafe La Bamba that lasts from 9AM-11AM each day of the week. That’s it. In December, when Islands of Adventure celebrates Grinchmas, there is a character breakfast in Circus McGurkus Cafe Stoo-pendous where you can meet The Grinch and other Dr. Seuess characters. This will be available from December 7 through December 31.

Outside the parks, at the on-site Loews hotels, there are several opportunities to dine with the characters. On Monday and Wednesday nights (6:30PM-9:30PM) at the Islands Dining Room at the Royal Pacific, Friday nights (6:30PM-9:30PM) at the Tattoria del Porto at Portofino Bay, and Saturday nights (6:00PM-9:00PM) at The Kitchen at the Hard Rock Hotel. The character breakfast I went to takes place every Sunday morning from 8AM-Noon at the Royal Pacific. It is scheduled to run through the end of the year, but its run has already been extended once so there’s a chance this could be available in 2014 as well.

Reservations are always encouraged (by calling 407-503-3463 or going to Open Table for booking online) but unlike Disney you generally don’t need to book these months out and there is always a very good chance at showing up on the day-of to still get a table.

This past Sunday I made the trip up to Orlando for a day at the Universal Orlando Resort. The first stop was at Jake’s American Bar at the Royal Pacific Resort for the on-site hotel character breakfast. This would be my first ever character breakfast, and we were drawn to it because of the characters from […]

This past Sunday I made the trip up to Orlando for a day at the Universal Orlando Resort. The first stop was at Jake’s American Bar at the Royal Pacific Resort for the on-site hotel character breakfast. This would be my first ever character breakfast, and we were drawn to it because of the characters from Despicable Me. It’s safe to say that meeting Gru and a Minion was pretty special to the youngsters in our party. Some bunny characters from the movie Hop made an appearance, as well.

I’ll be doing a full review of the experience later this week for the TouringPlans blog, but here’s some quick info. The on-site character breakfast takes place every Sunday from 8 AM to noon at the Royal Pacific. The price is $26.99 for adults and $14.99 for children. The food was amazing, and every table got a ton of time with all the characters. For more info you can call 407-503-3463 or go to the Open Table website and make an online reservation.

The choices of food include a full continental breakfast for everyone, along with one plated selection for each guest. I’ll go over all the options in the full review, but here’s a look at the first pass at the continental breakfast section by my girlfriend and myself. See if you can figure out which plate was hers and which one was from the guy who has tried to eat a three pound slice of cake, twice.

Getting fruit at a buffet is like going to an IMAX theater to see a documentary.

Also in CityWalk, a lot more construction is going on in the area that used to be Latin Quarter. This venue is next to Jimmy Buffett’s Margarittaville. It is rumored that the new venue will be named Don Quixote’s and offer Mexican fare.

The biggest news inside IOA is the official opening of the Jurassic Park midway games. This area has caused quite a controversy on social media and Universal podcasts, with the vast majority of people against the new games.

Jurassic Park Midway Games

I’m actually a big fan of midway games at Universal, especially the new themed ones in Universal Studios Florida at Springfield USA. They are fun, look great, and many of them have exclusive merchandise you can’t buy in any of the stores. During Halloween Horror Nights there were new midway games set up across from Monsters Cafe, and they had Minion plush dolls themed to vampires and mummies. Over in Springfield you can win Sideshow Bob or Spider-Pig plush, two characters you can’t buy anywhere else in the park.

However, the merchandise you can win at the new games in Jurassic Park includes maybe one dinosaur related item, while all the rest are fish, elephants, sharks, cats, parrots, and basically every thing you can think of but a dinosaur. Mind boggling. Instead of a parrot, why not a pterodactyl? Instead of a snake, why not a T-Rex? I just don’t get it.

Nothing says Jurassic Park like a penguin and a toucan.

The games, themselves, are well themed, and one of the more interesting ones – the InGen Egg Nursery – lets you pick out a dinosaur egg to be “scanned.” Pretty elaborate stuff for a midway game, and kids seemed to be drawn to this

Dinosaur Eggs from the InGen Egg Nursery

As you can see, the theming was there but the prizes seemed to belong more at Six Flags than the new direction Universal is heading in with the perfectly themed merch you see for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Duff Gardens, and Despicable Me.

While I was in the Jurassic Park section of IOA, I stepped into the Discovery Center to grab a picture of something that most guests miss. Downstairs, amidst all the interactive exhibits, is a small homage the original Jurassic Park film (one of my all time favorite movies and one I feel still holds up to this day).

Does this Barbasol can hold 15 specimens of viable dinosaur embryos? Only Dennis Nedry knows and thanks to a Dilophosaurus, he ain’t talking.

I believe November 3 was the start of the new Universal Dining Plan Quick Service option at the parks, and there were pamphlets all around IOA along with several stands such as the one below. The price for the Quick Service plan is $18.99 for an adult and $12.99 for children 3-9. This entitles each guest to one counter service meal (one entree and a non-alcoholic beverage), two snacks (for adults, children get one snack), and one non-alcoholic beverage.

Universal Dining Plan Quick Service

After leaving Jurassic Park, I made a stop by Toon Lagoon and finally stepped into Wossamotta U to see what Universal charges for people to charge their phones. The price is $5 for 30 minutes and $10 for an hour. You can also go online in this small area with rates starting at $0.50 a minute, which is actually a deal compared to the $0.75 a minute Royal Caribbean was charging on my cruise last month.

Prices for internet usage and cell phone charging in Toon Lagoon

There is a small gift store in this shop selling mostly bags and cell phone related products (like cases), but it does contain one of my favorite pieces of merch in either park, these 2-D inspired bags. At $85 and $115 they are a bit pricey, but I think they look fantastic.

2-D bag ($85)

2-D bag ($115)

Since we’re technically in the fall in Florida, some of the beverage locations were offering hot cocoa for $2.49 a cup. Considering it still felt extremely warm outside, I’m not sure how many of these they are selling right now.

It’s 75 degrees in Florida, that means parkas and hot cocoa time.

They were also offering a 2 for $5 deal on churros & pretzels.

Like Disney, Universal has its “Christmas all year long” stores, but the holiday decorations are now starting top pop up in the main gift stores, as well.

I’m not sure where I read it earlier this week, but I saw a post somewhere that said Universal had gotten rid of almost all of its Jaws merchandise. There used to be a cart over by Chez Alcatraz selling Jaws merch, but that is now selling Despicable Me branded items. The Jaws stuff has been moved all the way up to the front of the park by the exit at the That’s A Wrap store.

I firmly believe Universal would make a killing with exclusive Jaws, King Kong, and Back to the Future related merchandise.

The bathrooms over by the old home of Jaws (and right in front of the new Diagon Alley construction) still have some of my favorite Jaws collectibles in the form of pressed pennies.

Jaws pressed pennies

Speaking of Diagon Alley, construction is humming along, and brickwork and windows have started to show up in the London waterfront facades.

And the actual Diagon Alley behind the facades are starting to develop nicely, as well.

While at the Hard Rock I had to head downstairs to Emack & Bolio’s Marketplace to make sure they were still selling the King Donut. Sure enough they were, and it actually seems even bigger than before.

There are donuts and then there are donuts. The King Donut is the latter.

On my way out of the Hard Rock I noticed something I had never paid attention to before. There is a set of pay phones on the ground floor, and all around them on the wall are pictures of various music acts in front of those very same phones.

Call Me Maybe

Among the musical acts mugging for the camera was none other than blogger extraordinaire Morgan Crutchfield’s favorite band, Nickelback.

We’re gonna end this article on a BANG!

That’s it for this snapshot of the Universal Orlando Resort. I’ll be back soon with a review of the character breakfast, but while you’re waiting feel free to check out previous editions of The Saturday Six or The Magic, The Memories, and Merch! Feel free to stop by on Twitter and tweet me (@derekburgan) with any Universal questions, comments, or rants.

This past weekend I headed up to the Universal Orlando Resort to get some research done for the new Universal menu pages on TouringPlans.com, and while I was there I got to see some new things that have popped up around the parks. Obviously the biggest change going on right now is the near daily […]

This past weekend I headed up to the Universal Orlando Resort to get some research done for the new Universal menu pages on TouringPlans.com, and while I was there I got to see some new things that have popped up around the parks.

Obviously the biggest change going on right now is the near daily arrivals of props related to Halloween Horror Nights 23 over in Universal Studios Florida. Fans of the hit television show The Walking Dead on AMC are going to recognize many of the elements showing up in the park. Right across from the main gift shop is a beat up truck that has Daryl Dixon’s famous crossbow laying on it while nearby is the “Sophia stay here we will come every day” car that was located in front of Disaster! for HHN 22 last year. Over by Cafe La Bamba there is a section that is mostly covered up except for a well placed bicycle. This could an area set aside for “Bicycle Girl,” one of the most well known zombie characters from both the Walking Dead show and comic book series.

The walkway from Cafe La Bamba going to Kid Zone (passing by the Gardens of Allah) has a ton of planters on both sides. Right in front of Animal Actors on Location is Dale’s RV and an entire camping display set up. This area will be particularly creepy once HHN rolls around as it will be the location leading you towards the Walking Dead haunted house. A large school bus is now in front of Disaster!, the home of last year’s Walking Dead house.

The official Halloween Horror Nights 23 twitter account also updated a picture of a tank arriving onto USF property. Fans of the Walking Dead will remember Rick Grimes’ experience inside the tank in the show’s first season.

We stopped into Springfield USA and checked the status of the new Photo Connect experience coming to the area directly in front of The Simpsons ride. This new spot will have a recreation of the Simpsons living room and you’ll be able to do your own “couch gag.” The signs they have around this area are hilarious and fit perfectly in line with the Simpsons television show and The Simpsons Ride. Between adding Krusty the Clown and Sideshow Bob as meet n’ greet characters, all the new photo op characters like Duffman, the 7 Duffs and Milhouse, and now the new Photo Connect set up, Springfield USA is one of the best places to take fun pictures at the parks. There’s usually a minimal wait for any photo op and there are so many opportunities throughout the entire area (Chief Wiggum, Lard Lad, Barney in Moe’s Tavern, the Simpson family for meet n’ greets etc), that I think Springfield has become a standard in which both Disney and Universal should follow in the future.

Brain Freezin’ D’oh-nut sundae and apple fritter from Lard Lad

Before we left Springfield we had to stop by Lard Lad and try the Brain Freezin’ D’oh-nut sundae as well as the gigantic apple fritter. I’ve been waiting a while to get my hand on the sundae, and it was worth the wait. It has immediately jumped to the top of my list of favorite outrageous snacks at Universal. A warm pink sprinkled donut – the iconic snack of the Simpsons – is cut in half and between the two sides is soft serve ice cream and a topping. I chose Oreo cookie. On top is a generous serving of whipped cream and a cherry. Absolute perfection. Meanwhile the apple fritter was humongous and also really tasty.

Minion plush

One thing I had noticed on my last several trips to Universal was the complete lack of Minion plushes that were available. For a little while now, the only option was an unbelievably priced one at $250. Granted, this Minion doll was the physical size of a five year old child, but $250?! Other than that, the only Minion plush you could get a hand on would have to be won at the various carnival games in both parks. This week all sizes of Minions were back in stock, including the sharp looking purple evil Minion. Prices were $24.95 for the evil Minion, $21.95 for similar sized regular Minions, and $14.95 for small versions of the Minions. There was also a new Minion souvenir collectible cup, which you can get unlimited refills throughout the parks for $0.99.

Has the Fantastic Four’s car been repo’d by Lizard Lick Towing?

Not too much to report over in Islands of Adventure. While I still don’t understand how they can sell a pizza for over $30 in Cafe 4 (the same pizza was about $10 cheaper earlier this year and this ain’t Via Napoli-style pizzas) I was surprised to see that the massive Fantastic Four Car was missing from out from of the restaurant. Then I realized I’m not sure if I noticed it on my trip in late August or not.

Now that’s what I call a view.

One of my biggest surprises of the weekend was actually spending some time in Captain America Diner. Food wise, there are better options in either park and CityWalk. However, despite it’s name being dedicated to Captain America, this is an unbelievably well themed restaurant actually dedicated to The Avengers. There is a ton of HUGE comic art throughout the entire restaurant dealing with well known Avengers like Thor and Iron Man (there’s even a nice “cracked window” thanks to Thor’s hammer) and lesser known members of the team like Quicksilver, The Black Knight, Hercules, Wonder Man, and The Beast. The floors have elaborately themed tiling with the Avengers logo. I was blown away. This would be the official eatery of the boys from The Big Bang Theory as its that immersive and steeped into Avengers lore.

The Captain America diner also has some of the best views of the park while you’re eating. It really reminded me of the pictures people were posting of Radiator Springs Racers while sitting inside Flo’s V-8 Cafe out in Disney’s California Adventure. IOA actually has several restaurants with some spectacular views including Mythos and Thunder Falls Terrace.

Shipwrecked Loaded Nachos at the Royal Pacific Resort

I would have considered it a semi-decent sized crowd in the parks, but for some reason Forbidden Journey only had a 15 minute wait at 1PM. We actually hung around and watched the Frog Choir for a bit and were pleasantly surprised to hear them sing a song that is on the Goblet of Fire soundtrack. It was a cool day in Florida, only about 100 degrees with 2000% humidity, so while the sweat was pouring off us we decided to head over to the Royal Pacific Resort and get a bite to eat at the Bula Bar and Grille that sits poolside. I have heard a lot about their Shipwrecked Loaded Nachos, and it was time to give them a try.

Hawaiian Mahi Mahi salad and The Kona Half Pound Burger

Happy to report that the nachos did not disappoint. The serving was gigantic and was LOADED with toppings (black beans, cheddar cheese sauce, pico de gallo, sour cream, Guacamole, jalapeño, scallions and beef. It cost $15 and was worth every penny. You could feed an army on these, just not this army as we also ordered entrees. We got the Hawaiian Mahi Mahi salad and the Kona Burger. The salad came with local organic greens, bell peppers, and tropical fruit and was served with a mango vinaigrette ($16). The Kona half pound burger had an option to add pulled pork, caramelized pineapple and bbq sauce, so we got that option. You can caramelize anything and I’ll try it. Broccoli? Pass. Oh, caramelized broccoli? Throw it on. The burger is normally $13 and the add on items were $3. Both tasted great and, like the nachos, came served in huge portions.

Our server Frans was attentive but not pushy, just how I like it. Nothing drives me crazier than being at a theme park or resort and feeling like the servers are trying to get me out of there as fast as possible. We took our time and enjoyed this meal. Highly recommended.

That’s it for this quick look at the latest goings on at Universal. It was a busy weekend as we also checked out Night of Joy at the Magic Kingdom (click the link for a full write up on the experience). Halloween Horror Nights is almost upon us…the fall TV shows are about to start coming back…the NFL is here…. can life get any better than this? (Trick question, of course it can, just check out Pardon the Pixie Dust, the newest weekly show on the TouringPlans.com Podcast Network!)